Green wheels, bright skies: NREL analysis unveils the connection between electric vehicles and photovoltaics
People who own electric vehicles (EVs) are more likely to go a step further and add solar panels to their home, according to an analysis of a behavioral study by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Conversely, the impact of owning solar panels also has a bearing on whether a homeowner buys an electric vehicle but not as strongly.
The study relied on a survey of 869 households in the San Francisco Bay Area.
NREL’s Shivam Sharda, lead author of the newly published research paper that analyzes the survey results, said the owners of EVs may be more inclined to invest in photovoltaics (PVs) because the addition of solar panels might offset the residential portion of the energy bill needed to charge them at home.
“Both EVs and PVs have a complementary nature, which might play a pivotal role in energy systems resiliency, addressing concerns regarding grid stability and power management strategies,” said Sharda, a computational research scientist in NREL’s Center for Integrated Mobility Sciences.
The paper, “The Electric Vehicles-Solar Photovoltaics Nexus: Driving Cross-Sectoral Adoption of Sustainable Technologies,” appears in the journal Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. The study is co-authored by an interdisciplinary team of researchers including Venu M. Garikapati, Janet L. Reyna, and Bingrong Sun, all from NREL, and researchers from the University of California Santa Barbara and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
The survey was conducted in 2018 as part of the WholeTraveler Transportation Behavior Study. The researchers noted a lot might have transpired from the year when the survey was conducted. They revisited the topic with the newly released 2022 Residential Energy Consumption survey and observed that EV-PV relationship might still hold true. In the 2018 survey, more of the participants owned or previously owned rooftop solar panels than an electric vehicle (9.1% vs. 6.5%). The researchers noted PV technology has been around longer compared to EVs, and the cost of having solar panels is less than that of most EVs.
They found a correlation between the two technologies. Of EV owners, 25% also owned a PV system, while only 8% of the non-EV owners owned PVs. The behavioral survey highlighted two areas that might have prompted someone to adopt one or both technologies: being cognizant of them and being social enough to ask about them.
“If you have a friend or a family member who owns a rooftop solar panel or an EV, you become more educated about the technology, so you know the pros and cons by talking to them,” Sharda said. “That has a significant influence on your owning EVs or PVs.”
While governments offer incentives to adopt both EVs and PVs, the researchers suggested considering policies that jointly accelerate the acceptance of the two technologies. Because EV owners are inclined to use PV anyway, such incentives might provide a push for EV owners to adopt solar technology much earlier than what is currently observed. How soon a household adopts cross-sectoral sustainable technologies will play an important role in achieving decarbonization goals.
The researchers said while the survey provided valuable insights on EV-PV interconnection, more holistic surveys are needed to unpack the evolving transportation and residential energy use nexus to identify pathways to decarbonize energy use across sectors.
The Department of Energy’s Vehicle Technologies Office funded the research.
NREL is the U.S. Department of Energy's primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. NREL is operated for DOE by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy LLC.
JOURNAL
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews
METHOD OF RESEARCH
Meta-analysis
SUBJECT OF RESEARCH
Not applicable
ARTICLE TITLE
The electric vehicles-solar photovoltaics Nexus: Driving cross-sectoral adoption of sustainable technologies
Status report on emerging photovoltaic technology published by SPIE Journal of Photonics for Energy
Authored by a community of 41 researchers from across the globe, the open access “Status report on emerging photovoltaics” offers snapshots of a range of emerging PV technologies
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AUTHORED BY A COMMUNITY OF 41 RESEARCHERS FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE, THE OPEN ACCESS “STATUS REPORT ON EMERGING PHOTOVOLTAICS” OFFERS SNAPSHOTS OF A RANGE OF EMERGING PV TECHNOLOGIES.
view moreCREDIT: JOURNAL OF PHOTONICS FOR ENERGY.
Photovoltaic (PV) solar energy is emerging as a significant contributor to global sustainable energy production. Inspired by the continued technological progress of PV, and motivated by the challenges ahead, Journal of Photonics for Energy (JPE) recently published a status report on emerging photovoltaics written by a community of 41 experts from across the globe.
The report contains snapshots of a range of emerging PV technologies, highlighting key applications and pathways to commercialization. The report focuses on new materials and device concepts, light management designs, and strategies for exceeding current limits to solar PV energy conversion. Each section provides a brief overview, a technology status update, and a discussion of challenges facing efforts to commercialize and scale up solar PV globally, including developing appropriate manufacturing tools and processes, as well as enhancing PV efficiency and sustainability.
JPE Editor-in-Chief Sean Shaheen, professor at University of Colorado Boulder and coauthor of the report, remarks, “The report is intended to be a convenient resource for people within and outside the field, including new researchers, students, technology managers, and program managers, who can play a role in accelerating the global effort.” He notes, “The diverse contributions to this report demonstrate the remarkable range of emerging PV technologies as well as developments in their applications. They also describe some of the challenges to widespread deployment.”
Concluding with a survey of contributing authors regarding the needs and future evolution of PV, the report presents a variety of perspectives on priorities and challenges involved. In general, the report suggests broadening the performance metrics by which technological approaches are assessed, for instance to include life-cycle analysis to ensure that solar cells generate energy at minimum equivalent to that required for their manufacture.
Despite a variety of perspectives, the report communicates a shared spirit of optimism regarding the future of PV technology.
For details, see the Gold Open Access report by A. Anctil et al., “Status report on emerging photovoltaics,” J. Photon. Energy 13(4), 042301 (2023), doi: 10.1117/1.JPE.13.042301.
The Journal of Photonics for Energy is published by SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, and available via the SPIE Digital Library. The journal covers fundamental and applied research areas focused on the applications of photonics for renewable energy harvesting, conversion, storage, distribution, monitoring, consumption, and efficient usage.
JOURNAL
Journal of Photonics for Energy
ARTICLE TITLE
Status report on emerging photovoltaics
Unveiling the future of photonics: Hydrogel innovations pave the way
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DIVERSE APPLICATIONS OF PHOTONIC DEVICES INTEGRATED WITH A TWO-DIMENSIONAL HYDROGEL THIN FILM.
view moreCREDIT: MICROSYSTEMS & NANOENGINEERING
Photonic devices, crucial in modern technology, manipulate light through films and structures, enhancing functionalities via principles such as interference and resonance. Micro/nanofabrication advances have led to sophisticated designs like photonic crystals and metasurfaces, enabling precise light control. However, these devices frequently lack adaptability after fabrication. Hydrogels, known for their responsive and tunable nature, present a promising solution by merging dynamic optical properties with biocompatibility, addressing the need for post-fabrication adaptability in photonic devices.
In a review published on 01 January 2024, in the journal Microsystems & Nanoengineering, the discussion centers around hydrogels in photonics, highlighting their potential to revolutionize the field. The review emphasizes how these hydrogels enable devices to adapt and respond to their environment, promising significant advances in technology and biomedicine.
The review concentrates on harnessing the distinctive properties of hydrogels to develop dynamic photonic devices. Renowned for their deformable nature, hydrogels interact with water molecules through various forces, enabling them to expand and swell. This behavior allows them to modify their optical properties in response to external stimuli, like temperature and pH changes. The research delves into several fabrication techniques, such as photopolymerization and electron beam lithography, to construct hydrogel structures at the nanoscale. Photopolymerization lets hydrogels form films and structures under UV light, while electron beam lithography facilitates the creation of intricate nanostructures by breaking molecular bonds within the hydrogel. These techniques pave the way for hydrogel-based photonic devices capable of substantial, tunable optical alterations. Crafted devices can serve as dynamic optical cavities or nanocavities, reacting to external stimuli and offering enhanced optical responses. This innovative approach marks a new era in photonics, promising devices with unprecedented adaptability and responsiveness.
Professor Junsuk Rho, a leading researcher in the study, states, "The integration of hydrogels into photonics marks a paradigm shift. We're not just tweaking existing technologies; we're reimagining them to be more adaptable, responsive, and integrated with our environment."
This research ushers in a new era in photonics, where devices are not merely passive conduits of light but active participants in their environment. It has unveiled the potential of hydrogels in reshaping the realm of active photonics. This breakthrough is set to revolutionize our interaction with photonic devices, affecting everything from everyday technologies to specialized scientific equipment.
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References
DOI
Original Source URL
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41378-023-00609-w
Funding information
The Samsung Research Funding & Incubation Center for Future Technology grants (SRFC-IT1901-52) funded by Samsung Electronics; The POSCO-POSTECH-RIST Convergence Research Center program funded by POSCO; The National Research Foundation (NRF) grant (NRF-2022M3C1A3081312) funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT of the Korean government. The NRF Ph.D. fellowship (NRF-2022R1A6A3A13066244) funded by the Ministry of Education of the Korean government.
About Microsystems & Nanoengineering
Microsystems & Nanoengineering is an online-only, open access international journal devoted to publishing original research results and reviews on all aspects of Micro and Nano Electro Mechanical Systems from fundamental to applied research. The journal is published by Springer Nature in partnership with the Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, supported by the State Key Laboratory of Transducer Technology.
JOURNAL
Microsystems & Nanoengineering
SUBJECT OF RESEARCH
Not applicable
ARTICLE TITLE
Hydrogels for active photonics
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